


To Be or Not To Be (Made Into Stories)

by FireFaceOutlook



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: (warnings for Dust), Alternate Universe - Dusttale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Errortale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Horrortale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Humantale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Inktale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Swapfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Dusttale Papyrus (Undertale), Dusttale Sans - Freeform, Echo Flowers (Undertale), Error Sans - Freeform, Gen, Hanahaki Disease, HoneyMustard (Undertale) - Freeform, Horrortale Sans (Undertale), Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Inktale Sans (Undertale), Mental Instability, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Psychological Trauma, Swapfell Papyrus (Undertale), Temporary Reader Death, Underfell Frisk, Underfell Grillby (Undertale), Underfell Sans (Undertale), Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), monster trafficking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2019-10-24 15:49:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17707154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireFaceOutlook/pseuds/FireFaceOutlook
Summary: This is where I'm tossing my story ideas that I will be returning to to write into full stories when I have time.  Most of it will probably be Undertale [+ AUs] related.





	1. HoPe, faith, LOVE, and luck

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N: I'm planning on rewriting** "HoPe, faith, LOVE, and luck," **after this really weird dream I had, and it's going to have either three ACTs or be split into three parts of a series.**  
>  **Characters:** Swapfell [Red] Papyrus, Underfell Frisk, Underfell Grillby  
>  **Warning(s):** _Non-consensual Drug Use (being sedated against your will counts, right?)_  
>  _Implied Torture/Abuse_  
>  _Trafficking (I may not need to put this here, but I'm covering my bases just in case)_

Papyrus jolted back into awareness with a wheezing gasp, pain echoing not only throughout his bones, but his _magic_ , suckerpunching the air from his metaphorical lungs. His right side felt like someone had gone to town on it with a knife. Most noticeably, from his right clavicle to his spinal column, the ache reminded him of when he'd nod off on the couch at home and wake up with his head bowed towards his shoulder; it also gave him a nightmarish reminder of a dream he had where he'd gotten his head lopped off by Chara. The rest of his body was warring between throbbing in pain or being unnervingly numb. He had a blank gap in his memory as to what exactly happened to him, but he was willing to bet that he probably got too drunk and into a fight he couldn't win. Again. Oh, Sans was going to be so mad, but maybe he could smooth over his brother's ire somehow – like going to the dump and digging out a new action figure or quantum physics book for him.

Papyrus tried to sit up, just then registering just how cold and hard the ground was beneath him. It felt soothingly pleasant against his… bare… Where was his jacket? He was also missing his shoes, though his pants were still hanging around his hips – he'd take the small miracles as they came. He finally managed to sit up, but a wave of vertigo swept through him and he moved to lean back on his hands until it passed. He discovered that his right arm was numb and, apparently, useless, because he listed to the right and collapsed on his side. Stars flew behind his closed lids as pain exploded across his entire body. His magic _screamed_ , and so did he, until the agonizing sensation died down and he was left panting in the aftermath. He finally opened his eyes, potential hangover headache be damned, and found himself staring at grey cell bars. For a second he thought that Sans had shut him in the shed to teach him a lesson about getting wasted irresponsibly, but past the metal of his prison were shiny metal walls that definitely didn't belong to the shed.

The memories that suddenly flooded back into his skull had him struggling upright once more. Testing the machine after a particularly long repair session; being flung through the Void from his universe; the _humans_ and _cages_ and _needles_... He twisted around when he got to his knees, vision wavering, and saw that the cages closest to him were now also filled with a large variety of monsters – some of them even _skeletons_ – and, surprisingly, a few humans. Most of them appeared to be unconscious, but a few were awake and, if they weren't along in their cage, huddling together, whispering words of comfort. One of them – a human who reminded him a lot of Chara, but with darker hair, skin, and two red stripes on their shirt instead of one – noticed that he was awake. He recoiled slightly when they crawled to the side of their cage closest to his. Their hands moved through the air, but he didn't understand sign language, as much as Chara pushed him to learn.

 **“They're asking if you're okay,”** the purple fire elemental sharing their cell crackled from the far corner. Unlike Papyrus, the other monster was completely stripped of his clothing (though, like with skeleton monsters, it wouldn't be indecent unless he wanted it to be).

“wh-what?”

The child took his lack of understanding in stride, switching to simple charades. They lifted an arm, pointing to the forearm with the opposite hand. He glanced down at his left hand, which was propping him up, and didn't find anything wrong with it – nothing but the usual scratches embedded in the radius and ulna. He switched his gaze to his other side and suddenly his right arm wasn't so numb anymore. Everything below his humerus was _gone_ , and burning pain ripped its way up what remained. He blearily recalled trying to fight back, even after being sedated for tests, and his magic was more volatile when he wasn't in full awareness. (That's why he forbid Chara from entering his room when they heard him having nightmares.) An inflamed series of half-healed scars warped the end of what remained of his arm, cutting off the supply of magic to the area – even if he found his removed bones, he would never be able to connect them back together.

“fuck,” he croaked.


	2. [Redacted]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N: My full explanation is in the ending notes, but essentially, Error and Ink are purging all the Dusttale timelines (and corresponding AUs like Dustswap, etc.), and are preserving the Dusttale Sans from the latest timeline. Is it out of selfishness on Ink's part? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯**

**“i ͝C̶͢͝A͠n͢͏’͘͝t ̸b̷EĻi͜͡E͘V̡͝e͡ ̢Y̶͢Ou̶͞ ̸̢E͜N̛͡C̶͜o͞Ųrag͘Ȩ̛D̡ ̷͠t̛͟HE̵ ̸C̛r̴͘eA͝T͡Įo҉͢n̵͜͝ oF̧͡ ̧T҉H̴is̶ P̛L̛A̢̕c̕e̵̶͢,҉”̴͠** Error muttered under his breath as they approached the tear in space and time that would take them from Dusttale to Undertale’s final True Pacifist timeline.

Ink grinned guiltily, neither of them noticing the half-hearted shuffle of their escortee slowing to a halt behind them until they were nearing the portal and realized they couldn’t hear additional footsteps in the dust-coated snow.

 **“̶̕c̵̕͞o͞͡͡M̴͜͏E͡҉ ̧O͢͞n͘͡, ̡h̸̡Ư̸R̕r͞y̧ ͜u͢P̷̡͟,͘”͜͠҉** Error said, faltering as he turned to face the genocidal skeleton. Ink turned as well, both of them meeting the near-empty eye sockets of their Alternate, whose eye lights were shrunk to mere specks in the dark expanse. His grin had taken on a strained quality - a telltale sign of its ingenuity.

“wait a minute… you- you’re the reason i’m like this?” He sounded so heartbroken. Ink paused, not expecting that at all. Once he’d killed his brother and snapped, the Sans of Dusttale had never shown an ounce of regret towards his past misdeeds towards the monsters of his universe. Ink thought that that indifference was now embedded in his Code after so many resets, but if the shaking of Sans’ clenched fists were any indication, he was wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N: Well, my _overall_ idea for this was that Ink and Error were working together to get rid of the unfinished/nonsensical/etc. AUs, to make more room in the multiverse for the more detailed and alive AUs to have room to grow and develop further, and they were going to erase all the Dusttale timelines (and AUs), but Ink insisted on saving the original Dusttale Sans, and Error reluctantly agreed, and all the "messed up"/psychotic/etc. characters they preserved were going to essentially be reformed in a the Alpha Universe, in order to have a life outside the suffering they were created for.**


	3. Fellswap [Red] Reader Insert thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara passed through the Underground in a Pacifist Run, not killing anyone, but not completing everything they needed for a True Pacifist Ending. A few months later, another human ends up Underground.

You flailed for the shore, but you'd never had to learn how to swim – you'd grown up far enough away from the beach-side of Ebott City that it hadn't mattered. Now you wish that you had at least taught yourself the basics. You cried out for help.

***But Nobody Came.**

You went under again, and this time, your tired arms couldn't muster the strength to try again. Water filled your lungs when you couldn't hold your breath anymore and it burned – and you welcomed the pain. Nearly everything under the mountain wanted you gone, anyway.

_Sorry, goat-dad..._

  


**_Don't Give Up! Stay Determined!_ **

  


As quickly as your life had fled you, it returned with a vengeance that had you rolling onto your side and expelling what felt like a bucketful of water. It was freezing, and when you cracked your eyes open, you recognized the skeleton brothers' shed. Papyrus was standing on the other side of the bars, looking startled and disgusted, a familiar tray of sludge – you refused to call that crap _food_ – in his hands. You didn't give him a chance to insult or make fun of you.

“Am I alive?” you rasped, and the both of you winced – you sounded like you'd been gargling nails.

“...What?”

“ _Am I alive?_ ” You forced yourself up on trembling arms, muscled still feeling the ache from your struggle to save yourself. “I can't be- I _died_ , it hurt, I remember how it hurt-” You cut yourself off with a trembling breath and a revelation. “I was so _scared_. This doesn't make any sense!”

Papyrus cleared his throat. “Calm down- It's going tibia okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: _“Am I alive?”_
> 
> _“...What?”_
> 
> _“Am I alive? I can't be- I died, it hurt, I remember how it hurt- I was so scared. This doesn't make any sense.”_
> 
> _“Calm down- It's going to be okay.”_
> 
> [@randomwritingprompts]


	4. Dust and Horror - idk what type of story this will be yet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N: I've read a few "Dad!Nightmare" stories, and I wanted this to be part of my own, but?? idk what I'm doing yet?? So who knows where this will go. Enjoy anyway.**

“watch out!” Dust cried.

His warning came too late. The human brought the pipe down on the other skeleton's skull, breaking right through it like it was made of porcelain. Axe collapsed with nary a sound. Dust dove out from his hiding spot, ducking around the hands grabbing for him and dropping to his knees beside his friend's prone body. His hands shook when Axe didn't move, the scene all too familiar. Evidently, he wasn't the only one to think so.

_“Ki...ll … th...em...”_ the phantom in his head whispered in his baby brother's innocent voice.

“no,” he moaned, clutching Axe close as the humans tried to pry him away with jeers and laughter.

_“Kill … them...”_ The words around Dust blurred into an amalgamate of harsh noises, but still Papyrus' voice wasn't drowned out. _“Kill them. Sans, **kill them like you killed me!** ”_

**“l e a v e   u s   a l o n e !”** Dust screamed, and the ground around the prone skeletons exploded as bones emerged from the earth, each of them glowing an eerie purple and boasting a sharp point. Some of the humans stumbled out of the way in time, but most of them were impaled. Those that weren't stared in horror at the carnage, and at the skull of a beast floating in the air above them. Its jaws parted, a glow building in the hollow where its throat would've been. The survivors began fleeing, but it was already too late. The beam of light that the beast released evaporated them into nothing more than burnt scraps of shoes and piles of ash. The humans' souls hovered above their remains for just a moment before shattering like glass, sound and all. The floating skull faded away slowly, and below it, it's summoner's own soul throbbed.

  


**LV 9 HP 68/1**

**+800 EXP**

**+0 G**


	5. HoneyMustard (or other ship?  not sure yet) Hanahaki AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N: Sorry this is short. It's just a little something I had sitting in my drafts folder on my computer, based on this headcanon I posted on tumblr:**   
>  _In the very rare case that a monster would develop hanahaki disease, the type of flower they would have sprouting from their soul would depend on the nature of their love - whether it was negatively or positively influenced. If the former, they would spit up Buttercups, which would slowly poison them from the inside out until they turned to dust. The latter, however, would have them expelling Echo Flowers, which would whisper their secreted thoughts about their love until the blooms consumed their soul entirely._

Red hunched over the toilet and let his fangs part; he almost thought his jaw was about to become dislocated from his skull as vines and flowers erupted from his throat. The petals' blue glow lit up the corner of the bathroom, and whispering voices assaulted his hearing.

_“...stars, he's cute...”_

_“...i love his humor...”_

_“...wish we could be something more...”_

On and on the murmurs continued even when the last of the blossoms exited his mouth. He clutched the porcelain hard enough to crack it, gasping for air and weakly groped for the handle, listening to the words being swallowed by the water.


	6. Human AU - Honeymustard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N: I don't know how many of you have read my story "We Can Overcome It," but this is a future part when I get around to continuing it.**

"feelings are too complicated," Stretch concluded.

Blue scoffed from the kitchen island counter, stirring batter for the cookies he promised Stretch in return for his deal to try and quit smoking.

"They are not. You're just dumb."

Stretch gave his younger brother a wounded expression. Blue didn't even look up.

"Don't look at me like that. What you're feeling is _love_. And not the platonic kind. And it's kind of obvious how Red feels towards you."

Everything was silent except the sound of Blue's shoes against the kitchen tile and the sound of cupboard doors opening and shutting as he got out a tray for the cookies. The oven beeped as it finished pre-heating.

"where did you say Red was going?" Stretch asked hoarsely.

Blue sighed. "The festival. If you hurry now, you can catch him before he gets to the bus stop."

Before he'd even finished speaking, Stretch was up and at the door, pulling on his sneakers without tying them, his jacket thrown around his shoulders, and then he was gone. Blue rolled his eyes as he began putting the cookie dough on the tray. A knock on the door sounded a few minutes after his brother left.

"Come in!"

Edge entered the apartment, carrying two plastic cups of coffee.

"I've never seen your brother run before," he said. "He looked like he was fleeing from a crime scene. Where is he going?"

"To tell your brother that he's in love with him."

Edge snorted as he handed Blue one of the coffees before sipping from his own.

"About time."

"Mhm."

  


Red yawned as he walked down the street. He had a coffee in one hand, courtesy of his brother, who he promised to seek out later at the festival, and his phone in the other, scrolling through his social media messages, mostly Grillby's. The coffee was helping him stay awake, but he swore, if Grillby hadn't asked for his help, he would never be up this early on his day off. He glanced up and found that he was almost at the bus stop. He was about to jog the rest of the way when he heard running steps behind him closing in. He turned to see who it was and all he caught was a glimpse of orange and the fading scent of cigarette smoke before he was being lifted and spun in a brief but dizzying circle, crushed close to Stretch's chest. Red felt his face grow hot as he was set back on his feet, but still being held close. He was confused. He tried to mask it as he glared up at Stretch, who was grinning down at him.

"what's got you in such a good mood?" Red huffed.

Stretch chuckled and leaned down slightly.

"I just realized I'm in love with you, and it feels fantastic," he said softly.

Red stared up at him, jaw slack and face red, and he even dropped his coffee and phone in his surprise. Then he buried his face in Stretch's chest with enough force to make the taller man wheeze.

"don't say sappy shit like that, you asshole," the embarrassed brunet growled halfheartedly.

Stretch just chuckled.

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N: So. This is a draft of what will hopefully be a pretty big story. I like how it turned out, but when I actually write around this scene, I may change up a few things. I hope it reads okay and catches peoples' interests, though.**


End file.
